Dear families,
It was wonderful meeting with all of you this week to discuss your child's progress!
Last week the children practised their numeracy and literacy skills with several centres. They made patterns with various manipulatives, sequenced objects, practised their letter sounds with letter games, counted and sorted, played a "what number comes next?" guessing game (i.e. 2, 4, 6, 8, ??), and made shapes with elastic bands on peg boards. We also completed a Venn diagram, labelled a drawing, and started working on our Jolly Phonics Duotangs (which the kids will work on all year).
Thank you to Alex who shared his books on "Empathy" and "Respect" with the class. November is Empathy month at the TDSB and we have talked a lot about this in class. With our Grade 3 Reading Buddies, the children each had a picture of people and were asked to think about how they were feeling. Then they drew a picture and wrote about when they felt the same way. Alex also brought in a Monarch butterfly he found and we watched a video about their migration to Mexico each fall. We talked about how to attract butterflies to our homes and, with prompting, the kids came up with "plant flowers" which was terrific! Again, thinking about how we can help other things, creatures, nature, and so on. Wonderful! The children also did a symmetry exercise by drawing and colouring the right side of a monarch butterfly. Good work!
This ties in very well to the new nature inquiry we will be starting on Monday about Hibernation/Migration/Adaptation. This will be followed by a big inquiry on bears! This kids will love it. Fiction and non-fiction, lots of learning, terrific books... It will be fun! Look for a new bulletin board display in the hall in the upcoming weeks all about what animals do and where they live in the winter!
The Mystery Reader this week was Kate's mom - thank you Tara!!
A quick note regarding cold weather clothing - mittens are easier for your child to put on than knitted gloves. Tube scarves are safer than wrap scarves and are much easier for your child to put on. Also, please remind your child to not go on the monkey bars with mittens or gloves - they won't be able to grip it and could fall. With rain and freezing temperatures the wood chips and ground beneath make for a hard landing!
The words of the week were THIS and WILL. We are also finishing a LIKE Read and Write mini book. Next week we'll do CAN. An extra copy of this year's Popcorn Words was sent home in yesterday's mail bag. This is review for the SKs.
I hope you have a very nice weekend!
Friday, November 17, 2017
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Week of November 6-10
Dear families,
I hope you are having a nice weekend!
Last week we focused on being a good friend, feelings, empathy, diversity and respecting others, which tied in to our discussions about why we wear a poppy on Remembrance Day (to remind us to be a kind friend). We did two book studies: "The Skin You Live In" by Michael Tyler and "It's Okay to be Different" by Todd Parr. The children made a class book called "It's Okay To..." which we'll make copies of for the children to enjoy at home. The children also did an exercise comparing their name to a friend's in a Venn diagram. It was challenging for some of them but we'll keep practicing this with other names and things.
The Kindness Quilt is finished and looks beautiful on our class bulletin board! Each child wrote how they can be kind to one another and dreew a picture.
We also did an impromptu inquiry on acorns! The children learned which animals (other than squirrels and chipmunks) eat acorns, which trees make acorns, why an acorn is shaped the way it is, what the not inside the shell looks like, and more!
November 16 is Pajama Day! If the children want to bring their favourite stuffy that's okay too!
The children did a wonderful job at the Remembrance Day Assembly. Thank you to Anjali who was the wreath bearer! The children made the wreath by cutting crepe paper into poppy shapes and gluing them altogether on a circle. If your child is struggling with small motor skills, a great idea is to buy them blunt-edged child scissors to practice at home. Maybe have them cut out pictures of the Mastermind Toy catalogue to send to Santa as a wish list!
On the Smartboard we worked on letter sounds and letter formation.
Last week we had some chilly weather and several children wisely wore their snow pants! Please encourage your child's independence by having them try to dress themselves. We learned a song to help us. The tune is My Darling Clementine:
First the snowpants
Then the boots
Then the scarf, and the hat,
Then the coat, and the zipper
And the mittens go on last
We listened to the very first Curious George story written by Margaret Rey and H.A. Rey. The children helped create a timeline of the story on chart paper. This helps them use the words "first, second, third" etc. and "next, last." Look for more monkey stories to come! The children are also learning to think about the characters in stories we read: how they look, how they feel and what they do.
Thank you so much to Christopher's mom who was the mystery reader this week!
That's the news for this week. I'm looking forward to meeting you this upcoming week at Parent-Teacher interviews.
Mrs. Tyndall
I hope you are having a nice weekend!
Last week we focused on being a good friend, feelings, empathy, diversity and respecting others, which tied in to our discussions about why we wear a poppy on Remembrance Day (to remind us to be a kind friend). We did two book studies: "The Skin You Live In" by Michael Tyler and "It's Okay to be Different" by Todd Parr. The children made a class book called "It's Okay To..." which we'll make copies of for the children to enjoy at home. The children also did an exercise comparing their name to a friend's in a Venn diagram. It was challenging for some of them but we'll keep practicing this with other names and things.
The Kindness Quilt is finished and looks beautiful on our class bulletin board! Each child wrote how they can be kind to one another and dreew a picture.
We also did an impromptu inquiry on acorns! The children learned which animals (other than squirrels and chipmunks) eat acorns, which trees make acorns, why an acorn is shaped the way it is, what the not inside the shell looks like, and more!
November 16 is Pajama Day! If the children want to bring their favourite stuffy that's okay too!
The children did a wonderful job at the Remembrance Day Assembly. Thank you to Anjali who was the wreath bearer! The children made the wreath by cutting crepe paper into poppy shapes and gluing them altogether on a circle. If your child is struggling with small motor skills, a great idea is to buy them blunt-edged child scissors to practice at home. Maybe have them cut out pictures of the Mastermind Toy catalogue to send to Santa as a wish list!
On the Smartboard we worked on letter sounds and letter formation.
Last week we had some chilly weather and several children wisely wore their snow pants! Please encourage your child's independence by having them try to dress themselves. We learned a song to help us. The tune is My Darling Clementine:
First the snowpants
Then the boots
Then the scarf, and the hat,
Then the coat, and the zipper
And the mittens go on last
We listened to the very first Curious George story written by Margaret Rey and H.A. Rey. The children helped create a timeline of the story on chart paper. This helps them use the words "first, second, third" etc. and "next, last." Look for more monkey stories to come! The children are also learning to think about the characters in stories we read: how they look, how they feel and what they do.
Thank you so much to Christopher's mom who was the mystery reader this week!
That's the news for this week. I'm looking forward to meeting you this upcoming week at Parent-Teacher interviews.
Mrs. Tyndall
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